Straight answer: in Uruguay for residency you need a source of income — if not, open a unipersonal and that’s enough. To a passport: ~3 years if married, ~5 years if single. Uruguay’s main minus:kids under 18 don’t get citizenship. We dropped the other countries on our own stop (disease, instability, seismics, geopolitics).
our pick
Uruguay
- Residency
- You need a source of income. None — open a unipersonal (sole trader) and that’s enough
- To a passport
- ≈ 3 years if married · ≈ 5 years if single
KIDS UNDER 18 DO NOT GET CITIZENSHIP
- Residency for us: prove income or open a unipersonal — no “golden visa” and no millions in the bank
- No endemic malaria
- No dengue as a background
- Calmer overall: house, school, daily life
we didn’t pick it
Paraguay
- Residency
- People often praise a “fast” entry — we looked at the papers
- To a passport
- There is a path, but for a family it didn’t cover the risks
Main minus:MalariaDengue
- We looked at residency, but the family’s health mattered more than “easy on paper”
- Because of the diseases the option dropped
we didn’t pick it
Argentina
- Residency
- Paths exist (work, family, rentista and others)
- To a passport
- There is a timeline — we didn’t want to live “on sand”
Main minus:Instability — the main stop
- Economy and rules jump — residency/passport didn’t cover the minuses
- Dengue — including the Córdoba region
- Malaria — sometimes locally; extra risk in the sum
we didn’t pick it
Chile
- Residency
- There is a temporary status / paths for work and income — we looked
- To a passport
- Longer and tougher than Uruguay — for us
Main minus:Seismic zone — the main stop
- Earthquakes and tsunami risk on the coast — not what you build a house and school on
- Malaria on the mainland: not endemic (as a background of life — not comparable to Paraguay/Brazil)
- Dengue: on the continent mostly imported; locally Easter Island (Rapa Nui), not all of Chile
- We didn’t drop it for disease — we dropped it for seismics
we didn’t pick it
Serbia
- Residency
- Residency is possible — we didn’t refuse because of “hard papers”
- To a passport
- A long European track — not our focus
Main minus:Geopolitics and tension on the borders
- The situation is unstable — “like it was heating up before the war in Ukraine”
- Even with a normal residency we didn’t want that background for a family
- Fear after our own experience, not an analyst forecast
we didn’t pick it
Georgia, Armenia and the region around
- Residency
- Permanent residency is hard to get
- To a passport
- A passport is hard too
Main minus:You don’t renew your own passport — you become illegal
- Conflict places nearby
- There are conflicts in the country and on the borders too
- We already went through that — we didn’t want to go there again
we didn’t pick it
Brazil
- Residency
- Residency exists, but heavier and messier than Uruguay
- To a passport
- Longer path / tougher conditions
Main minus:Malaria and dengue — a serious background
- Safety is not what you want for kids
- In the regions disease is not “rare”, it’s a background of life
- In the sum: legalisation + health + the street = no
we didn’t pick it
EU and NATO countries
- Residency
- Easier here, harder there — not the main stop
- To a passport
- Long / quotas / each country’s own rules
Main minus:Conflicts heating up, especially in Europe
- After our experience we need maximum calm, not an alliance “frontier”
- Even with normal residency, geopolitics matters more for a family
- EU/NATO as a direction — one line: no
📎
This is our experience and our opinion — how we looked at countries and why we chose Uruguay. Yours may be different: other goals, budget, family, timeline. Before you decide, check the current rules yourself.